The invention relates to the field of devices for metering, dispensing and/or preparing food products such as beverages, sauces or other similar products. The invention is aimed more particularly at a refill comprising a supply of a foodstuff for such devices. The invention has numerous applications in the food service industry, particularly with regard to the dispensing of beverages in public places or in catering services of transport facilities such as aircraft or trains.
Devices for dispensing and/or preparing beverages or other ready-prepared products have to be supplied with foodstuff regularly and in sufficient quantity to be able to provide the consumer with a continuous and uninterrupted service. In general, these devices are supplied manually by filling reservoirs with a foodstuff packaged xe2x80x9clooselyxe2x80x9d in hermetically sealed tins or bags. This method is not satisfactory because it entails handling operations as well as the time needed to perform these handling operations. The handling operations, if conducted carelessly, can lead to a mess and can carry the risk of a significant loss of foodstuff, particularly when the device is installed in unstable or turbulent conditions such as may be the case in an aircraft.
Devices do exist which are designed to accommodate cartridges or containers filled with soluble powdered substances which are opened before they are introduced into the device. British patent GB 1,325,478, for example, teaches this principle. In this particular instance, the container comprises an adhesive strip which is delaminated before the container is assembled into the device. A disadvantage of this device stems from the fact that the refilling operation is performed when the container is fully open, thus leading to the same disadvantages as those described above.
European patent application EP 1,028,068 proposes a solution to these problems by providing a refill cartridge designed to refill with foodstuff easily and quickly and without the risk of losing any foodstuff. This device is entirely suitable for use in demanding environments such as an aircraft compartment. The cartridge comprises a container containing a foodstuff and a closure means collaborating with the container to form an enclosed space. The closure means comprises means allowing the at least partial detachment of the closure means under the effect of the refill being introduced into the dispensing device. In particular, the detachment means comprises a free portion equipped with mechanical catching means intended to engage with at least one retaining part of the device, that complements the mechanical catching means, so as to hold the free portion in place in a configuration in which the free part is folded back onto the detachment means and thus ensure the at least partial detachment of the closure means with respect to the container. In this case, the detachment means thus forms a portion of the closure or sealing means, which is capable of being folded back onto the container in the configuration of engagement into the device.
A system such as this has numerous advantages in terms of convenience of use in that the introduction of the cartridge into the device is essentially enough to open the refill and therefore refill the device. Even so, additional features can provide even further advantages.
The present invention relates to a foodstuff refill designed to release its contents into an appropriate device without it being necessary for the refill to be opened beforehand, or it being necessary to provide integral cutting systems in the accommodating device.
The present invention makes the refilling operation more reliable and more safe. This is accomplished by ensuring a better distribution of the forces applied in order to open the refill so as to afford optimum safety on opening under all circumstances, so that any risk of rupture, crumpling or jamming of the means for sealing the refill as it is engaged in the device is avoided.
Another feature of the invention is to lessen the risk of accidental opening of the refill outside the device as well as to avoid partial or total deterioration and/or damage to the means used to open and/or seal the refill. What happens is that the refill is used as packaging for the foodstuff, and has therefore to be capable of storing it, over time, under vapor-tight and possibly also oxygen-free conditions. Any inadvertent rupture of the sealing means, however minimal it might be, can considerably reduce the shelf life of the foodstuff. Likewise, in the event of damage to the opening means, the refill may no longer be able to be opened properly, and the refill may therefore become unusable.
Another feature of the invention is to provide a refill which can easily be stored in quantity, in a rational and compact way without wasting space so that they can be stored in a restricted space such as a box, a crate, a drawer, etc., thus providing maximum amount of product in a minimum volume.
These features are provided in a foodstuff refill intended to be inserted in a foodstuff supply zone of a device for metering, dispensing and/or preparing pulverulent food products. This device has a retaining lip and at least one pair of first opposed edges. The refill preferably comprises a container for containing a quantity of pulverulent foodstuff; a passage for releasing the foodstuff; a plastic film for sealing the passage to form an enclosed space; a detachment member attached to one end of the film and comprising at least one catch member intended to engage the retaining lip of the device when the refill is inserted into the device, wherein the detachment member is connected to the refill in such a way as to be movable in sliding along the first edges of the device and cause the at least partial opening of the film means in response to the engagement of the detachment with the retaining lip of the device.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to an assembly comprising a device for metering, dispensing and/or preparing beverages which comprises a supply zone and at least one foodstuff refill intended to take up position in the zone. In this assembly, the refill is as described above, and the detachment member is capable of sliding in such a way that the introduction movement causes the at least partial delamination of the film and releases the foodstuff into the supply zone.